Milan hits back at Poland and Hungary’s curbs on LGBTQ+ rights

The city has made itself an ‘LGBTQ+ freedom zone.’

Milan has joined the rank of cities taking a stand against Poland and Hungary’s efforts to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

The city designated itself an “LGBTQ+ freedom zone” — a label that riffs on the so-called “LGBT ideology-free zones” created in some Polish towns since 2019.

“The freedom to exist and to speak of LGBTQ + local citizenship is substantially prohibited” in Poland and Hungary, said councillor and activist Michele Albiani. Milan — which is home to Italy’s largest LGBTQ+ community — adopted the designation as a response, he said.

It puts Milan in the company of cities like Paris, Vienna and Lisbon that have similarly pledged to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people and was adopted Monday, on the eve of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.